Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I've been looking for a silent fidget for a while now to help me stay focused during interminable video chat meetings, and after discovering ONO roller I...might have gone a little ONO crazy. I now own at least one roller from every single one of their lines (ONO roller original in black, 3x ONO roller juniors in various colors, and the ONO steel mini). So, first off: you really can't go wrong with ONO rollers. I love these things. The build quality is absurdly good, they do exactly what they advertise, and they feel great. The primary downside is that they're a little expensive, but given that unless I submerse the thing in water or something it's likely to outlive me...well, I personally find the cost completely worth it. All that said, there *are* some downsides to ONO rollers, and it's not easy to guess which will work for you personally with the existing reviews and marketing information that I could find. So here's a run-down of every product that I own with an eye towards helping folks make informed decisions without buying out the entire product line! Before I begin: I'm a guy who is 6'2" and my hands are relatively large; I can span 10 notes on a piano if I stretch a little bit. So keep that in mind when I talk about fit. A downside shared by every single ONO roller (but mitigated slightly by the ONO Junior, due to its light weight) is that these are *not very ergonomic*. Rolling an ONO roller is a repetitive motion, and especially with the non-Junior models these things are heavy enough to put a bit of stress on the tendons in your forearm. I personally am a fast fidgeter; my impulse when I grab an ONO is to start spinning it around as fast as I can (or in time to the beat of whatever music I'm listening to), and this is a good way to build up physical stress, particularly if you are holding your hand in a non-neutral position. If you have a history of repetitive stress issues in your forearms, you might want to be careful about your choice of ONO, unless you're planning to roll it more sedately than I tend to; you *definitely* don't want the ONO steel (mini or otherwise) in this instance. ONO Original: this is by far my favorite ONO. It's heavy, but not too heavy. It fits my hand perfectly (and for those with smaller hands, my wife--who is 5'4" with normal size hands for her height--can roll it comfortably, though she said it's a little bigger than she'd like). It also feels the best out of the two metal ONO lines; the matte aluminum finish is really, really satisfying (particularly cold; I like to leave it out on my desk and roll it in small stints). It reaches body temperature relatively quickly, and still feels good (kind of works like a hand warmer if you keep it in your jacket pocket). I will probably get a second one of these to just leave in my jacket permanently while the other stays at my desk. My main quibble with the Original is that the matte finish makes it somewhat slippery (my hands tend to run dry). This means that if I hold my hand in a neutral position with the roller vertical, it quickly slides its way out of my grip. I find it most comfortable to use in my jacket pocket, with my hand hanging at my side in a neutral position, or lying with my palm at a neutral angle in my lap (this works because I can brace the bottom of the roller against my leg if it starts to slip, and I have a broader range of positions that don't cause stress to my forearm). ONO Junior: aside from some exploratory spins, I haven't really used this one as much because it's just a little too small for me (I bought them as stocking stuffers when my kids of 7 and 9 years were really interested in my ONO but couldn't comfortably fit it in their hands). ONO Junior is a really great product, though: the weight is *much* more tolerable for long stints, the colors look fantastic, and the ABS plastic has a bit of a rougher texture that combines with the weight to make them a little less likely to slide out of my hand (still slides if my hands are dry, though). If I had slightly smaller hands, I'd happily go Junior-only. ONO Steel mini: this is a weird little product for me. I *love* the form factor; it's somewhere between half to two thirds as tall as the ONO Original while maintaining the same width, and it fits perfectly in my palm as a result. However, I don't much like how the stainless steel feels; its shiny finish tends to quickly pick up a little oil from my hands and just feels kind of gummy compared to the Original. It's also too heavy; I'm super happy I didn't spring for the full-size ONO Steel, because I bet I would have hated the weight on that one. On the other hand, the weight is kind of nice in that it forces me to roll it really nice and slow because it puts uncomfortable stress on my fingers otherwise (so it might actually be easier to avoid repetitive stress with this thing as long as I'm careful to keep my hand in a neutral position and be mindful about how I'm using it). The shiny stainless steel also feels needless flashy to me; my matte black ONO Original just kind of quietly blends in while the Steel mini tries to grab attention, even mostly engulfed in my palm. I haven't had a chance to try it yet (because I'm addicted to the Original), but if I can stand having something this heavy in my pocket I suspect the Steel mini is going to be my favorite to-go roller. As a reference for weight, I have an iPhone 13 in a plastic case; the Original weighs a little less than the iPhone + case (but it's hard to tell the difference), and the Steel mini noticeably weighs more. I think my theoretical perfect ONO would be the form factor of the Mini steel or Original with the ABS plastic of the Junior. Since that doesn't exist, the closest thing for me is the ONO Original. All that said, you're going to love ONO rollers; they really are a fantastic fidget. Hopefully this overview of their few downsides will help you pick the right model for you, so you don't have to buy up their entire catalog to find your perfect fit! EDIT: The Steel mini is indeed too heavy for to-go use for me. Maybe if it were in a pants pocket (effectively serving as a second phone-size weight), but a jacket pocket is no good. It also requires wiping down way too often because it picks up oil from my skin like you wouldn't believe. It's getting retired to my second-string, emergency roller lineup. Second, I MIGHT have purchased a second ONO Original to take on the go (I don't have a problem, YOU have a problem!). If you grab an ONO Original, I highly recommend taking a damp (*not* wet!) antibacterial wipe and giving it a once-over when you open it up. My second Original felt weirdly sticky compared to my first one (which I had already wiped down, thanks to it coming into close contact with my cold-ridden child's grabby paws at one point), and an antibacterial wipe fixed it right up; I assume the factory coats them in something to keep the finish nice during shipment, and they feel sooooo much better when you strip that junk off.